St. Mary School in North Battleford has been selected as one of 10 recipients of this year’s Mosaic Extreme School Makeover Challenge. A cheque for $10,000 is coming their way.
Entries to the Mosaic Extreme School Makeover Challenge, a partnership between Mosaic, Breakfast For Learning and the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, are judged on quality of nutritional programming and potential benefits to the school community.
St. Mary's entry was based on a plan to educate its young students about food. Program designer Jordan Boychuk, the school's nutritional co-ordinator, says if children learn about healthy food in a fun, interactive way, "they will be more inclined to eat it."
Principal Michelle Sarenco says funds they have been granted will be used towards staffing.
"We believe it will cover the costs we need," says the principal of the Pre-K to Grade 7 school.
The $10,000 award will help establish a program that can become sustainable from year to year.
"Our goal is to have our leadership students trained on safe food handling and proper methods of preparing food by the end of the 2016-17 school year so that they can help with preparing fruit and vegetables for lunches and snacks the following year. This would once again free up some time for our nutrition worker to work with classes in the 2017-18 school year," Sarenco explains.
Boychuk says the new program will be comprehensive, with all students able to take part. It is designed to align with the provincial curriculum, she adds.
"It will be tailored to each grade's skill level and knowledge," she explains.
Each grade will have one month of the school year to take part in the program. The younger grades will have one hour a week, says Boychuk, and the older ones will have one and a half hours per week learning about food, food preparation and nutrition as part of their science class.
Introducing children to food and nutrition at an early age will help set patterns for their future, Boychuk explains. Many people may not realize just identifying various foods, learning where they come from and what they are called is a big deal for young children. If they don't know anything about it, they aren't going to want to eat it.
In addition to learning about food and nutrition, students will learn preparation techniques and some of the etiquette surrounding eating, such as setting a table and table manners.
The program will also build confidence and engage the children in the learning process, says Boychuk.
The older grades, she adds, will learn to prepare food for the school's nutrition program.
St. Mary, through Breakfast for Learning, provides breakfast to between seven and 100 students each day.
There is also a lunch program available to students for $10 per month.
There are afternoon snacks for kindergarten and morning and afternoon snacks for Pre-K.
Boychuk says she cooks from scratch as often as possible, and the school menu follows the Canada Food Guide and the school division nutrition guidelines.
Originally from Regina, this is Boychuk's first year with the school, and her first year out of post-secondary school. She has a food and nutrition diploma from Saskatchewan Polytechnic in Saskatoon.
She believes in the importance of schools having trained nutrition workers as trying to meet the needs of so many children in a day as well as working within budget restrictions can lead to less healthy foods becoming part of the students' diet.
It's not always possible to cook from scratch, she says, but it is her first choice.
She's looking forward to the children taking part in the program she has helped develop, although, at least in the first year, she won't be the facilitator.
The funds they've received will pay for someone to come in and work with the children, as her hands are full with the day-to-day nutrition program.
In addition to the $10,000, which will be presented in June by the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, St. Mary will also receive a certificate of recognition signed by the ministers of Education and Health and the president of the SSBA.
In announcing the winning schools, Sarah Fedorchuk, senior director of Public Affairs for The Mosaic Company, said, “In honour of 10 years of successful partnership with BFL and the SSBA, we want this year’s challenge to leave a lasting impact on children across the province. We are excited that schools and communities get to pick the project that will net the biggest returns for their kids. Mosaic plays an important role in food security around the world. Here at home we understand that quality nutritional programming is imperative to achieving success in the classroom.”
Together with the SSBA and BFL, Mosaic launched the Extreme School Makeover Challenge in 2006. The Mosaic Extreme School Makeover Challenge is open to all schools in Saskatchewan.
“Our students are our future leaders, and investing in their learning through nutrition programs is vital to their success,” said Kelly Berlinic, director of Programs and Community Development for BFL.
“Breakfast for Learning is proud to work with the Saskatchewan School Boards Association and The Mosaic Company to ensure all students have the nourishment they need to succeed at school.”
The Mosaic Company and the SSBA, in partnership with BFL, host the Mosaic Extreme School Makeover Challenge to encourage grassroots initiatives to improve student nutrition. As Canada’s first established and one of the largest national charities focusing on student nutrition as it relates to learning, Breakfast for Learning helps support and sustain school-based breakfast, lunch and snack programs Canada-wide, providing students with the opportunity to reach their full potential in life. Since 2004, the SSBA has been involved with supporting those efforts.
“The Mosaic Extreme School Makeover Challenge is important because school boards firmly believe that every student in Saskatchewan should have the resources and supports needed to succeed and achieve, regardless of where they live in the province or their personal circumstances,” said Connie Bailey, president of the SSBA.
“The Mosaic Extreme School Makeover Challenge helps ensure all students in Saskatchewan are well-nourished and ready to learn. The SSBA is very proud to support Breakfast for Learning. We also thank The Mosaic Company for their strong commitment to excellent corporate citizenship in this province and their support of K-12 education.”
